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Audio Sound Advice of Blackpool have supplied a complete audio system for the new production of Funny Girls, which re-opened recently at its new home in the old Odeon Cinema in Blackpool. The Funny Girls concept is to entertain the audience with famous show songs and arrangements, all performed by men in drag.

The refurbishment of the art deco theatre - complete with gilt adornments and deep carpets - included work in the private members club, nightclub, restaurant, main bar and feeder bars.

Audio Sound Advice’s Peter Bawden designed the theatre audio system and he and business partner Kevin Jones spent three months working closely with Phillip Holmes, project manager for venue owners In The Pink Leisure to ensure that it met all the venue’s needs. (ITPL was founded over 20 years ago by Basil Newby and now operates many of Blackpool’s most colourful venues.)

The

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BarcoEvents receives orders for over 5000 square feet (450 square meters) of its award-winning LED displays during the first quarter of 2002, posting a growth of over 50% over the same period last year. The division, one of the fastest growing within the Barco group, boasts several substantial orders this year, including orders by US-based wholesale rental giant VER (Video Equipment Rentals), multi-national event engineering companies PSL Group (USA & UK), the Avesco Group’s Screenco & Creative Technology (USA & UK), as well as VPS (France), Imag -Video (USA) and AV Teknik (Sweden). BarcoEvents has already received LED orders in excess of US$25 million during the first quarter of this year.

According to industry market research data, BarcoEvents counted over 60% market share (by value) of the total global LED rental market during 2001. The recently-released growth figures indicat

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The enclosed photos are from the Caracas Pop Festival where UV/FX designed and painted 2 large scenic pieces that fit on the 30' x 50' main speakers. The promoters wanted the logo of the festival to become visible at opportune times and have control over when the logo appeared and disappeared. The art was created to match the rainforest like setting of this festival and painted on sound transmitting linofilled scrim. The much-anticipated musical extravaganza started on 13 March and ran until 17 March, just outside of Caracas, Venezuela. The five-day concert features many favorite artists on one stage and was attended over 30,000 people. UV/FX has also recently completed custom designed and painted scenic projects for Shaggy, The City Of Science Museum in Paris and many more projects worldwide.

(Lee Baldock)

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A new multi-storey themed café bar in London’s chic Mayfair area, Café Grand Prix has been developed by a consortium of Monaco-based financiers at a cost of nearly £10million. Now London’s largest bar and restaurant, it takes its style and name from the famous venue located on the legendary Rascasse bend at the Monaco Grand Prix race circuit in Monte Carlo.

Onyx Projects were asked by architects Smith Caradoc-Hodgkins (SCH) to design an integrated AV solution after the two companies had worked together on developing the Rainforest Café concept. There are three individually styled restaurants contained within the vast 22,000sq.ft footprint on the site for the former Thomas Cook head office - occupying the ground floor and two basement levels. The feature area - La Rascasse Restaurant - is a large, 170-cover banqueting room, which is also available for corporate functions

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Since its debut in 1999, when it won both the PLASA Award for Product Excellence and the EDDY Award - City Theatrical’s AutoYoke continues to find more favour as designers and production managers see how its versatility and reliability make their work easier.

AutoYokes play a starring role in a planetarium show at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, CT, where a 150ft-wide planetarium dome rises about three stories into the air. Each AutoYoke is fitted with a mirror system and paired with a Vicom Wega 1200 slide projector. Images of clouds, stars and moons are projected onto the mirrors, and the mirrors move as the AutoYokes pan and tilt - making the clouds drift, the stars shoot, and the moons rise and fall.

"We installed 17 AutoYokes in August, and they are working very well," says Hank Forrest, senior associate principal at Fisher Marantz Stone, the show’s m

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Grandmaster Flash, founder of modern hip hop, is touring Europe using a specially customised Rane TTM 54i mixer. Flash’s set is a combination of retrospective sounds from his block party roots in the 1970s, presented in a contemporary style and atmosphere using the latest technology from Rane. His set sounds every bit as fresh and original as ever, creating positive energies and vibes plus a distinctive 21 century sound via the art of scratch mixing.

Flash has always customised his gear, right from the start. Originally, he explained, this was because the equipment simply wasn’t designed for the creative style of mixing he pioneered. He has now used Rane equipment for a couple of years: the first time he heard a Rane mixer - whilst playing at the New York club Life - he fell in love with it’s clear sound. "Rane is simply the cleanest mixer I’ve found,"

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Show Presentation Services (SPS) has just completed a number of events for children's charities, including the Microsoft NSPCC Ball, Scene and Heard's fundraising event, the Rhys Daniels' Trust Valentines Ball and the Children of Achievement awards, all of which took place in London.

Microsoft corporate social responsibility manager Sarah Foxall commented: "SPS was able to proactively think through the difficult issues presented by the event, and come up with solutions that allowed us to put on a great evening for our guests. With the generous support of our suppliers like SPS the Microsoft Charity Ball has been able to raise over £360,000 for the NSPCC over the last eight years." Ray Lowton, SPS's head of sound, said: "We try to make these events as painless for charities as possible. Working with charities is always rewarding and we like to feel that we can find time

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QVC has purchase 10 Vari*Lite VL1000 ellipsoidal reflector spotlights in another step toward its goal of fully automating the studio from which its programs are broadcast 24 hours a day. The new lights will allow QVC to make set changes without having to refocus, move or re-hang light fixtures. "Because we have such a strange format, we may be lighting a musical act for one program and lighting a kitchen set with Emeril Lagasse the next," said QVC lighting supervisor Doug Rae. "With the VL1000 fixtures, it doesn't matter, we can do it all with the same light. The wide angle of the beam is quite impressive. When we aren't using it with the shutters, we can pull back and use it as a washlight."

Four of the luminaires will be used on QVC's fashion set, primarily to project the logo or trademark of each particular designer onto a different area of the set. Because the f

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With song-based music currently poised to make a major comeback, the recent growth of London’s Bayswater showcase venue, Tall Poppy Presents, has seen the venue become one of the hottest spots in town for A&R people and unsigned artists. Faced with a demanding, critical audience and international performers whose potential careers depend on the best possible sound quality, Tall Poppy has chosen FBT MaxX4a active PA speakers, supplied by UK distributor Proel (International).

The venue, situated at Henry’s Bar/Restaurant in the Henry VIIIth Hotel, Bayswater, is hosted each week by Canadian singer-songwriter Lee Lindsey, who performs her own material as well as introducing performances from a string of artists. The music is often demanding and the audience is fussy. Responsible for getting the sound right is guest engineer, record producer, Jack Guy. Jack (whose recording cred

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A strategic contingent of 27 South African roadies has embarked on a 20-city US tour which will cover coast-to-coast principal venues, in an initiative engineered with UniverSoul Circus, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The seven-month outing with Platinum Soul 2002 carves out the global collaborative stage that enhances technical exchange projects between the Republic of South Africa and the USA.

This initiative extends the five-year European projects, which cover Ireland, Holland, Denmark, France and Norway. In July 2001, while on a world tour through South Africa, Cedric Walker met with the president of SARA (South African Roadies Association), Freddie Nyathela, in Johannesburg and discussed ways and means of establishing joint-projects that could foster technical transfer initiatives. Within a year of that historic meeting, the scheme has come to fruition, falling in line with the ob

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The new Fairmont Hotel in Dubai has installed 160 Exterior 600 outdoor color changers from Martin Professional to add an eye-catching wash of color to the hotel’s four concave facades and rooftop turrets. As it is located on the Sheikh Zayed road - with more than 40 high-rise buildings - the client understandably wanted the Fairmont to stand out from the rest. Apart from gently washing the building, automated lighting is used to give the hotel greater flexibility in the lighting scheme - for example, the possibility to paint various color schemes for festivals and other occasions. The installation has created a special atmosphere in which dynamic lighting is used as an extension of more functional illumination.

Nouran Trading, the chief supplier of lighting for the project, brought in lighting design consultancy DHA Lighting Design Services to co-ordinate a proposal for the facad

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ARX Systems, the Australian manufacturer of professional audio products, has appointed KEM Electronics Ltd as the company’s new exclusive distributor for Greece. ARX managing director Colin Park told PLASA Media: "ARX is delighted to have Thimios Koliokotsis and his experienced team at KEM on board as our new exclusive distributor. KEM were established in 1983 and are viewed as a pioneer in the Greek professional audio and video market."

(Lee Baldock)

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Beverley Knight, the UK’s premier soul/R&B solo artist, is currently touring Europe and recently appeared as a special guest to Jamiroquai on his UK arena tour. Beverley is enjoying high chart positions with her two recent hit singles ‘Get Up!’ and ‘Shoulda Woulda Coulda’ and after a break of two years the multi award-winning artist returns with a long awaited new album, which has just gone Gold.

A gospel singer since the tender age of three, Beverley has a voice which will send a tingle down the spine of the most cynical sound professionals. Beverley is an avid Shure user and her front-of-house engineer Matt Napier commented: "Shure mics were used exclusively for Beverley’s band and included Shure Beta 52s on kick drums and bass with a Beta 56 on snare drum, an SM81 on hi-hat plus two Beta 98s on the toms. The three backing singers used Beta 58

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ESIP International Event Management launched its new corporate identity and announced its involvement in the new ‘Worldport’ festival taking place in Cardiff this summer. The company unveiled its new identity to clients and colleagues this April. Speaking on board Thames sailing barge the s.b. May, the company’s co-founder, John Ellson, explained that the new identity had been created to emphasize the collective skills and years of experience of the key people within ESIP.

ESIP have been something of a well-kept secret, having supplied event management and technical production services to the music and corporate events sectors. Recent projects in these areas include the Showtime in the Stadium concert at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, shown on BBC TV last December; the 100th anniversary of Philip Morris International in Buenos Aries with a charity event; the Rochester I

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In a move designed to integrate the Lighting Technology Projects business closer to the parent Lighting Technology Group, the LTP team have literally moved a step nearer to their colleagues at the company’s head office. Recently involved with a number of high profile installations, including the award winning Gateshead Millennium Bridge and Hull’s much publicized The Deep, the Projects staff have taken the opportunity to relocate to the main Group offices at 2 Tudor Estate, Abbey Road, Park Royal, London.

Leading the Projects business, Terry Reeves, LTP general manager, commented: "We trade as an independent business able to offer a specialist installation service. By moving to 2 Tudor Estate we can build upon the relationships of our Group colleagues and take on a wider range of projects."

(Lee Baldock)

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Essex-based DPL Lighting was called in by the Tussauds Group to architecturally light the amazing new Colossus rollercoaster ride at Thorpe Park, Surrey, for its launch. Thorpe is one of the UK’s most popular theme parks and Colossus is a major new ride, which rises up over 30 metres, and hurtles at up to 65 kph for nearly a kilometre, spinning riders through gravity-defying 360 degree loops and plummeting them earthward - into an ancient lost city.

This type of lighting is exactly the sort of challenge relished by DPL’s Darren Parker - who lit Colossus’s heavy metal steelwork and impressive stanchion frame with eight Studio Due City Color luminaires. The launch reception itself was held inside a large Dome building nearby in the Thorpe Park grounds. DPL added a bit of effervescence to the already animated atmosphere in the Dome with a Golden Scan moving light spinnin

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Richard Martin Lighting is once again the first lighting company to receive delivery of the latest addition to Pulsar’s ChromaRange - the ChromaPanel. The first batch of 48 ChromaPanels expands RML’s current range of LED technology. The new ChromaPanel is a 590mm square panel that utilises 132 LEDs to produce a vivid panel of colour. The LEDs have the ability to cross-fade colours, thus creating over 16 million possibilities. Due to their low power consumption the ChromaPanel generates very little heat and is therefore the ideal 'set-building toy,' say RML.

RML is a specialist rental supplier of intelligent lighting and control systems to the film and television industry. The company’s clients have included Top of the Pops, The Spice Girls, SMTV Live, BBC Studios, Comic Relief and The Brit Awards. The latest purchase follows the purchase of Pulsar’s ChromaBank

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Pensacola Christian College has recently completed a top-level facility at its Florida location. Designed and installed by All Pro Sound, a design/build contractor located in Pensacola, the facility comprises a comprehensive array of sound reinforcement, recording and broadcast systems, which were installed in the College's Crowne Centre over an 11-month period, and include over 160 Turbosound loudspeakers.

Conceived as a multi-purpose state-of-the-art facility, the Crowne Centre is the College's newest development and contains a large, 6,035-seat auditorium, with a flexible below-balcony area that can be divided into three separate 600-seat seminar areas. The auditorium's 33-metre two-storey stage includes a rotatable section, and has a frontal area that can be configured in four different formats. The Centre also houses two 200-seat wedding chapels, hospitality areas and classrooms,

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Orbital Sound combined forces with The Royal National Theatre to deliver its second annual advanced training course for students wishing to pursue a career in theatre sound. Building on the success of the first course initiated jointly last year by Orbital’s Simon Whitehorn and The National’s Rob Barnard, the second edition expanded on its successful formula to be co-produced and staged at The National Theatre and at Orbital’s Brixton-based facility.

This year the creative and conceptual workshops were staged at ‘the National’, whilst in-depth technical sessions were held at Orbital’s headquarters in mid April. The importance of sound in theatre continues to grow at a rapid rate thanks to advances in technology and the changing expectations of audiences, producers and directors. As audio technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, both Orbital an

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Westlife kicked off their ‘World of Our Own’ global tour in Europe with a spectacular lighting rig supplied by Bandit Lites and video expertise from XL Video. By the end of the European leg of the tour in June alone, Westlife will have played to nearly a million people, and the tour is destined to be one of the most successful and high profile of the year.

The lighting design was a collaboration between the show's technical director Phay MacMahon and LD Barry Halpin. MacMahon also designed the stunning in-the-round stage and set (both on the ground and in the air). With in-the-round being the most challenging of live performance perspectives, MacMahon and Halpin have created a breathtaking show full of drama and surprise. Bandit Lites - who also supplied Westlife's first tour last year - mustered over 120 moving lights - including 45 Martin MAC 2000s, 40 MAC 600s, 20 MAC 50

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A key part of Newcastle’s city centre redevelopment project has involved the lighting of the Grade 1 listed Theatre Royal. With specific objectives to achieve, artist and designer Simon Watkinson drew on the resources of Lighting Technology’s Newcastle office to guide the project through the design, mock up, planning approval and installation phases.

The initial brief involved recreating the rich colours of the theatre’s ‘house curtains’ and projecting these vibrant shades onto the facade of the building. In addition it was felt that the Theatre’s magnificent columns should be bought to the forefront of the lighting design. Subsequently, the colour-changing effect was created courtesy of 12 of Color Kinetics’ C200W luminaires, which illuminate the upper canopy area, balcony and lower frontage. Additional fittings light the pediment above the pi

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Ian Kirby has announced that the newly-incorporated Coemar UK will be based in Ashford, Kent. And when the company opened for business on April 29th, UK customers found a massive price reduction on all Coemar stock awaiting them. This will equate to approximately a 30% price decrease across the board.

Price points of Coemar product have traditionally been high in the UK. "But efficient streamlining of production under the new ownership and new UK distribution has meant lower prices from the factory and to the consumer," explains Kirby. Coemar UK’s new 6,000sq.ft office, warehouse and demonstration facility will incorporate a full inventory of stock and spares - as well as a new product range, which has been launched over the last nine months.

The company can be contacted at: Unit 4, KPC Business Centre, Canterbury Road, Ashford,Kent, TN24 0BP, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1233 63

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Home to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for the past four years, Benaroya Hall recently installed ten Soundweb 9088ii digital signal processors as part of a discrete new vocal reinforcement system for its 2,500-seat S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium. CCI Systems of Olympia, working closely with the Harman Professional Projects Group (HPPG), provided the system’s design and installation.

Two of the BSS Audio processors are utilized to provide DSP, EQ and delay for a new central cluster of custom JBL loudspeaker enclosures powered by existing Crown Macro-Tech MA5002VZ amplifiers. A third 9088ii does likewise for speakers addressing the stage lip and orchestra/monitor sections. The remaining seven processors are similarly called upon to provide individual delays, EQ and signal processing for 56 JBL HTI6 speaker boxes, all driven by a rack of Crown CP660 six-channel power amplifiers

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Further to the announcement last week of a new distribution agreement for Greece, ARX Systems, the Australian based manufacturer of professional audio products announce the appointment of Istanbul based Park Audio & Lighting Systems as the company’s exclusive distributor to the Turkish market. ARX’s managing director Colin Park told PLASA Media: "ARX is delighted to have Oktay Karasoglu and his team at Park Audio & Lighting Systems on board as our new exclusive distributor for Turkey. With the new Installation products ARX is releasing this year, Oktay will be well placed to further develop ARX's presence in this very competitive market."

Park Audio & Lighting Systems can be contacted at the e-mail address below:

(Lee Baldock)

  1. AKG for St Eugene’s Cathedral, Derry
  2. ARRI GB plans major move
  3. ESS meets all the Queen’s horses at Windsor
  4. Checkmate with Vari-Lite
  5. Milos Expands European HQ
  6. QSC powers 15.1 surround sound at Legoland
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